Skip to main content

tv   Government Access Programming  SFGTV  April 14, 2019 11:00pm-12:01am PDT

11:00 pm
solution, you definitely have an opportunity if it's proper design, to turn trains around in brisbane. then you can have a full bus bridge to make the connection to downtown. i testified and asked for resignation that this is not possible. it's a high speed rail design. nothing to do with caltrain. >> that concludes your agenda for today. >> chair nuru: we are adjourned. >> thank you. peaker cards and
11:01 pm
copies of documents to be and included as part of the file should be submitted to the clerk. items acted upon will appear on april 16th for the supervisors agenda unless otherwise stated. >> call items 1 and 2 together. -- issuance of mortgage revenue
11:02 pm
bond not to exceed 77 million for sunnydale block number six. item 2 resolution approving authorizing director of the mayor's office to execute amended and restated loan agreement not to exceed 28.4 million to finance the first phase of infrastructure improvements and housing development for the sunnydale hope s.f. development. >> thank you very much. we have sarah amral and also, oh, and -- we have theo miller here. hi. so, this is continued from last week, and i believe last week we heard from the b.l.a. also, and we, i had some questions and i actually have met with folks and so i just want to ask my colleagues if they have any questions for the speakers, seeing none, open this up for public comment. any members of the public that
11:03 pm
would like to comment on items 1 or 2? seeing none, public comment is now closed. oh, michael. public comment is now open. >> i spoke yesterday and i demonstrated that there's 144 unit apartment building complex that's being built in mountain view county. lowest rate by a developer to produce housing construction on a brand-new apartment building for most vulnerable in the area. applied to people who are teachers and also homeless, economically disadvantaged, you campaigned on, who you promised you want to help here in the city. demonstrated said $500 million to house the homeless. with that much money and the 11
11:04 pm
billions from tax cuts and tax cuts regulations from the president of the united states, put that money together and you could build nine apartment building complexes that have 144 apartment units for homeless economically disadvantaged people with disabilities, mental and physical, amputees, people wheelchairs and the veterans. the land in the embarcadero, build 27-story apartment building complex with the $5 million, you could build nine apartment building complexes and places for people who need help. navigation center, all you are doing is building 200 shelter beds. and you can't stay there no longer than, than 90 days and you kick them out and put them on the street and homeless all over again. stephanie, you said you needed
11:05 pm
to know where does the good idea to stop the cycle of people going into the navigation center and put back out on the street. you make 27-story unit building, 1,269 apartments for permanent housing for those people instead of that -->> thank you, michael. thanks. well, we do hope that teachers will live in the hope s.f. sites, actually, and the people you are talking about. thanks much. any other public comment? seeing none, public comment is now closed. i believe that we had a recommendation last week from our budget legislative analyst. would you read that again? >> from the office, this week we did incorporate the recommendation into our report to amend the proposed resolution to request director of the
11:06 pm
mayor's office of housing and community development to submit a written report to the board of directors on the proceeds of the sale of block five after finalization of the sale, includes the process for advertising the availability of the process, the property, the number of bidders, the range of bids and the criteria for the buyer. thank you very much. >> and mr. miller, do you accept those amendments? >> i do. >> you agree with them? >> thank you very much. >> that's great. make a motion to accept the amendments. we can take that without objection. and i make a motion to move items 1 and 2 to the full board as amended. with a positive recommendation. thank you very much. >> thank you, supervisors. >> madam clerk. read item 3. >> ordinance amending the administrative and business and tax regulations calls to confer upon certain non-profit organization first right to purchase consisting of both a right of first offer and a right of first refusal over all
11:07 pm
multi-family residential family building in the city. >> we amended it last week, they were substantive, and now a fiscal impact so now we have a b.l.a. report. hear from the b.l.a., please. >> on page 11 of the report, table 1, summarize the impact of the amendment in committee. amendment in the committee exempted property -- from the transfer tax, purchase the property over $5 million for the portion of the transfer tax, the incremental portion. page 11, we sort of show what that would be per property. so for a property sale price at $5 million, the transfer tax exemption would be a one-time reduction of 75,000. for property sold at $10 million, exemption 200,000.
11:08 pm
and for 25 million, exemption 562,000. we do consider approval to be a policy matter for the board of supervisors. public comment. peter cohen. any one else that would like to comment, come on up. >> good morning, peter cohen with the community housing organizations. we know that last week was the big hearing and there were lots of folks here. just again, thrilled this resignation is going through with all of the supervisors signing on. i thought i would take a minute or two to emphasize funding that will help make this happen. this has been a question that's been raised. we have the great tool, adding to the toolbox. we have the ability along with the capacity of our organizations to scale our acquisition work. but it's going to need money and that's the great question. i wanted to remind us of the
11:09 pm
opportunities we have forth coming, of course, november 29th housing bond, at this point, a half billion dollars at minimum, is going to have a preservation component. it's a great opportunity to have a dedicated source of funds to help move acquisition and take advantage of copa. looking out ahead, we also again potentially have surplus in future fiscal years, nice to have a continuing set aside from that. we also have november 2020, impending prop 13 reform measure on the statewide ballot, the split roll, 600 to $800 million a year to san francisco. just imagine if a small portion was set aside for acquisition of housing. and lastly, something lost in the redevelopment evolution in san francisco, we have what is called a replacement housing obligation that went with the redevelopment agency.
11:10 pm
over 6,000 housing units were destroyed in urban renewal efforts in san francisco, 6,000. and in the early 1990s, senator burton required san francisco to replace those and allowed use of redevelopment funds for that. unfortunately, governor brown blocked the use of those funds and we have been trying to restore them. with a new governor and hopefully new appetite by this board we can bring that back. i wanted to put that on your radar screens. >> thank you very much. next speaker please. >> good morning. mada young, a member of the bay area homeowners network. we represent thousands of members from around the bay area. small mom and pop owners are being systematically forced out of the housing market by the unreasonable restrictive, draconian rent control laws. over 40 years, san francisco has developed hundreds of amendments
11:11 pm
to their rent ordinance and they are doing nothing to stop the rent from going higher, but the opposite. they are forcing the rent to go higher and forcing the rental units to be out of the market, so there are fewer and fewer affordable housing on the market, and that's all because of the politicians and their organizations behind the scenes pushing them to do these without concern for the general public's well-being. with that said, this is just another step towards a final goal of these organizations trying to take over the homeowner's market. so, the homeowners can no longer do the business, but they will take over the biggest landlord. already i see privileges around the bay area that are dictating
11:12 pm
the market unfairly. so please say no and think it through. you are undermining the whole american society. thank you. >> thank you very much. next speaker please. >> good morning, reverend. >> good morning. good morning to everyone. i want to first say i'm reverend yana moore from faith in action bay area and some of my teammates are here. i want to thank the board of supervisors for the courage and initiative you have shown. i want to simply state the human cost every day i hear stories of evictions. i work with young people, very young children and work with teachers as well. and i have heard recently in the last couple days stories of eviction. i hear stories from millennials telling me they are considering leaving this city. this legislation will invest in
11:13 pm
our youth, i'm talking about millennials and others, and i thank you again and i support it. and i hope it passes. thanks. >> thank you. any other speakers? seeing none, public comment is now closed. i would like -- should i -- i would like to make a motion to move this to the board with positive recommendation. take that without objection? thank you very much, colleagues. madam clerk, item number 4. >> resolution authorizing municipal transportation agency to execute a retail lease agreement for retail space at 44 ellis street for a ten-year term plus two five-year extension option, base rent 3.5 million. >> items 4 and 5 together. thank you. >> 5, resolution authorizing municipal transportation agency to terminate the lease agreement
11:14 pm
with tad's, inc. for retail space ellis, in the garage. >> thank you very much. i believe we have jason a. gallagos, manager strategic real estate, sfmta. >> that is correct. thank you. so i'm going to run through this as quickly as possible. the two items for consideration today are one, a lease termination agreement with the current tenant, tad's, inc. and on top of that, a new lease agreement with tad's, inc. tad leases 5368 square feet of retail space and operated as a business and as a restaurant at 44 ellis street and other locations in san francisco. this one in particular is ellis garage. the garage is owned by the city and under the direction of the city, built in 1965, 3
11:15 pm
commercial retail spaces, one # 1,000 square feet. when it comes to the current lease, approved by the board of supervisors on march 1, 2015. tad's assumed the lease in 2017 as part of a business accusation. now the original lease has a ten-year term, and six years remain on that lease. in addition, there are rent credits which are incorporating lease for tenant improvements. those and at option, if you will, was never exercised, utilized by our past and current tenants. the initial ten years of the lease to produce $5,127,000 in rent and as i mentioned before, there's been no real significant tenant improvements to the space in over 20 years. tad being able to terminate the existing lease and a new lease, they will invest and make
11:16 pm
significant improvements to the retail space and the costs of the improvements are well beyond the existing rent credits of $250,000. with the new lease it includes a fresh ten-year term, so adding four additional years on top of the new, and two five-year options. nine months of written abatement incorporated to the lease to offset the costs of what we are estimating at about $2.7 million in tenant paid for improvements. the lease will generate $5,317,024 of revenues during the initial term. lease starts at 82.50 per square foot. within a reasonable appraised range when factor in the tenant improvements being invested by our existing tenant and escalates at 4% of the base annual amount during the in addition sal terms, and 103% at the option period or 95%,
11:17 pm
whichever is greater to the city. to conclude, tad's has been operating greater union square over 45 years. like i said, they are paying the cost of all the tenant improvement upgrades, include, you know, hood ventilation, electrical, plumbing, ceiling, flooring, new bathroom upgrade, mechanical systems, lighting fixtures, facade and canopy. they have not been able to open their business since assuming the lease but have consistently paid their rent totally over $730,000 plus as february 1, 2019. we believe this is retaining the local small business contributes to a proper public purpose and that it's a very responsible business retention effort. i have folks from the tad's team to speak if necessary and happy to answer any questions. >> thank you very much. i love tad's steakhouse, actually. ok. i used to work at macy's, and so
11:18 pm
went to tad's with friends a lot. colleagues, any questions or comments? let's hear from the b.l.a., please. >> we summarize the fiscal impact of this, lease termination and renew lease on page 19 of our report and table 2. under the renew lease, rent at $82.5 per square foot per year. considered to be market rate based on an appraisal, independent appraisal that rent does include a rent credit. this incorporated into the rent credit 322,000 over the term of the lease. tenant improvements, estimated cost 2.7 million. total revenue to the m.t.a. over the ten-year term, 5.3 million, we recommend approval. >> i see you have a recommendation also to amend item 4.
11:19 pm
>> technical recommendation. an error in the numbers in the legislation itself. and so we recommend amending it to correct the language from stating the initial annual basic rent is 5.3 million to the total rent over ten years is 5.3 million. >> thank you very much. any members of the public like to speak on 4 or 5? seeing none, public comment is now closed. can we have a motion to approve the amendments, please? and we can take that without objection. thank you very much. i just have one question also. is tad's a legacy business? >> legacy in terms of -- >> legacy business registry? >> not that we are aware of. >> ok, a little overdue once they get back into business. thank you very much. i would like to send this to the full board with a positive
11:20 pm
recommendation as amended. thank you very much. madam clerk. please call item number 6. >> resolution retroactively authorizing the department of technology to accept an in-kind gift of consulting services from city innovate, october 9, 2018, to october 8, 2023, 125,000. >> i believe we have christa canolakis. >> good morning. resolution will allow the department of technology to accept an in-kind gift of consulting services from an organization called city innovate. to assist in the administering of the start-up and residence program or stir program. five-year agreement began in october of 2018 and will continue until october 2023. connects city agencies with
11:21 pm
start-ups to develop technology that helps make our government more accountable, efficient, and responsive to residents. the objective is to help city agencies serve their communities through modern service delivery. survey departments to determine operational and service challenges that may benefit from innovative technology solutions. our team works with the agencies to issue solicitations for proposed solutions by companies and the department then selects their preferred proposal, via this competitive solicitation process. over a 16-week residency period, the departments co-develop a custom solution that addresses the challenges they face, and they can move forward with a purchase of the solution if it meets their needs. a number of past successes,
11:22 pm
human services agency pro curing a tool to simplify the process for a foster family, saving h.s.a. workers up to 40% in processing time. the city innovate will assist us in -- it's assisting a variety of jurisdictions nationwide in administering programs. they will assist us by helping us to scope, select, and refine technology challenges. they help us with the recruitment of companies to work with the city. they provide an online dashboard for us to review and evaluate the participants, and help us with facilitation of scoping workshops. i wanted to also share where the resolution is retroactive. it's retroactive because the stir program is a function which the department of technology assumed at the beginning of the fiscal year and reviewed the stir program and other office of civic innovation initiatives we
11:23 pm
realize certain arrangements constituted a gift that would require board approval. and we are in the first few months of this five-year agreement. our team at the office of civic innovation operates a number of programs that seek to apply private sector resources to assist in solving civic challenges and working to ensure we receive board of supervisors approval prior to engaging these moving forward. happy to answer any questions. >> any questions or comments from my colleagues? seeing none, there was no b.l.a. report on this. let's open it up for public comment. any members of the public like to comment on item 6? seeing none, public comment is closed. i would like to move this to the full board with a positive recommendation. we can take that without objection. thank you very much. call item number 7. >> resolution retra actively authorizing the department of public except, 3.1 million from
11:24 pm
the department of health care services to participate in a program, homeless, mentally ill, outreach and treatment. >> i believe we have dr. irene sung. san francisco health network, department of public health. >> good morning. or almost afternoon. my apologies if i stumble a bit, the first time i've done this, only in the interim role a few weeks. >> welcome. >> thank you. >> we are absolutely nice. yes. this is easy. >> great, great. this is a new grant and it's focussed on providing services and linkage services to support the homeless people that are suffering from substance use disorders, and mental illness. it's a new grant. i believe the application, the approval to apply was previously
11:25 pm
approved by the board and that we are approving, we are requesting the approval to accept the dollars and expend the grant. let's see here. we are getting started now, took us some time to actually figure out what gaps in services we really needed to focus on to be sure we are addressing the correct gaps, and i believe that we are in a place now we are moving forward. what we are doing is we are increasing the number of social workers, peer navigators, augmenting street medicine and, with the harm reduction ban to ensure coordinated services, and increasing hours of operation for various programming to make sure there are more nighttime availability and so there's more, greater coverage. we really want to try to get folks into care as best we can and provide that linkage. if you want -- >> thank you very much.
11:26 pm
one question for you, which is have you ex -- have you begun to expend the funds yet? >> we haven't -- we haven't actually, no, we have not started spending the funds yet. we wanted to make sure we were addressing the correct gaps. that's what we were focussing on. >> sure. supervisor stefani. >> yes, thank you, chair fewer. this grant is said to be able -- will be able to enhance residential treatment services and residential care facility beds, i'm wondering how you will carry that out through the grant. >> it's not actually for beds, i'm going to refer to michelle here. >> okay. that's in the resolution. >> that's language in the resolution. >> linking them. what we are finding is we are, sometimes, when folks will come into p.e.s., try to get them hooked into hummingbird, they won't make it there. so trying to attach services to make the linkage actually
11:27 pm
happen. in terms of the actual beds, michelle -- no actual beds increase in this particular grant. it is really about making sure they link into services. and helping them stay in services. >> that may get them into a bed at hummingbird. >> and maybe help them stay in a bed. >> that's fine, ok. thank you. >> yeah, sorry. >> thank you very much. any other questions? no comments, there was no b.l.a. report on this. open this up for public comment. any members of the public that would like to comment on item number 7? seeing none, public comment is closed. i would like to make a recommendation to move to the board with a positive recommendation. thank you very much. we can take that without objection. madam clerk, please read item number 8. >> accept, expend a grant in amount of 402,000 from the california department of public
11:28 pm
health. >> thank you very much. i believe we have joshua nositer, interim director. please start. >> so the black infant mortality rate in san francisco is four and a half times of the white rate. our black infant mortality rate is actually higher than that of sri lanka. what this grant proposes to do is the first installment of a multi-year grant from the state to better understand the gaps in service that contribute to black mortality in san francisco county, and to remedy those disparities. >> can you tell me the actual numbers of children that actually -- is this -- so this is -- is this children are not
11:29 pm
coming to full term, or is it after children are actually birthed? >> so, there is both. preterm birth is a significant contributor to infant mortality. these are the 14 through 17 numbers. infant mortality rate among black infant mortality, 9.6 per thousand, 2.1 for the white population. >> ok. there is not -- there's no b.l.a. report on this. any other questions or comments from my colleagues? open this up for public comment. any members of the public that would like to comment on item number 8? seeing none, public comment is now closed. actually, i wish it was for more than 402,000. that's ok, thank you. make a motion to move to the
11:30 pm
board with a positive recommendation, and i can at that that without objection, thank you very much. madam clerk, please call items 9 and 10 together. >> 9, resolution approving the boarding area c retail concession lease to the marshall group, and 600,000 for the first year of the lease. 10, resolution boarding c lease number one between hudson group retail, r.d.j. enterprises and manhattan investment, retailers, and the city for a term of seven years with 2-1-years options to extend, and 1.8 million for the first year of the lease to commence upon board approval. >> thank you. >> good morning, supervisors. airport is seeking your approval for two boarding area c
11:31 pm
concession leases, each with the lease term of seven years with two one-year options to extend. rent is the greater of the percentage structure or minimal annual guarantee. between the airport and h.g.s.f.o. retailers for retail marketplace called 49 mile market, feature local vendors plus grab and go food and beverages, minimum annual guarantee of 1.8 million, and marshall retail group, a stand titled the scoop, guarantee of 600,000. the budget analyst recommends approval. i'm happy to answer any questions you may have. >> please hear from the b.l.a. on 9 and 10. >> two leases were selected through a competitive process, through terminal one, for seven years each, two one-year options to extend, total of nine years.
11:32 pm
h.g. is for a retail space, minimum annual guaranteed rent is 1.8 million. for marshall, newsstand space, minimum guarantee is 600,000 annual. over the initial seven years, $16.8 million in revenues to the airport. the airport does expect to get the rate greater percentage rather than the minimum annual guarantee and we recommend approval. >> thank you very much. let's open this up for public comment. any members of the public that would like to comment on 9 and 10? seeing none, public comment is now closed. colleagues. would you like to make a motion? >> yes. >> i'll move we forward these items to the full board with positive recommendation. >> take that without objection, thank you very much. madam clerk, item 11.
11:33 pm
>> 11, ordinance retroactively waving the banner fees under public works placement up to 300 for work force development store the city shop and dine november '49 campaign beginning in november 20, 2018. >> good morning supervisors, and thank you all for walking to work this morning. quite amazing. i'm mary anne, looking for a three-year waiver of the fee that gets paid to public works for our banners for the shop and dine in the 49. shop and dine in the 49 is san francisco's buy local campaign. it encourages residents and guests to shop and dine in their corridors, and to buy local. approximately 300 banners throughout san francisco and they are in almost every
11:34 pm
merchant corridor. each year we seek a banner fee waiver from public works for the banners. fee can range from $3,400 to up to $4,000. i would like to speak quickly to the reason why this is retroactive, is we started this in june to get the legislation to you by november. but a very brilliant city attorney reminded us that perhaps it's best to do this three years at a time, as opposed to doing it annually. and so we agreed with that very brilliant city attorney. so, we are just here asking for the retroactive waiver for the shop and dine in the 49 banners. i would also like to say this one piece, or two pieces, actually, we, when we started this campaign we started out very high level. the original images were iconic to san francisco.
11:35 pm
as the campaign has taken hold and taken root, we drilled down into neighborhoods now and millie valley was one of the recipients last year, haight ashbury and bayview this year, the other thing i wanted to share with you is, we recycle our banners, so when they come down, they are tattered, we actually work with a local manufacturer called mafia bags and we turn them into actual bags. so, thank you. >> thank you very much. there is not -- there is no b.l.a. report on this. let's open this up for public comment. any members of the public like to comment on item number 11. seeing none, now closed. i would like to make a motion to move this to the board with a positive recommendation. take that without objection.
11:36 pm
thank you very much. please read 12. >> resolution approving amendment number one to the agreement between community awareness and treatment services and increase 14.3 million, not to exceed 23.1 million and extend the term by three year, agreement term july 1, 2017, through june 30, 2022. >> thank you very much. and we have the department of public health here. >> good morning, supervisors. yay, we are here with this contract. this is a really important contract we have with the community awareness and treatment services. they provide, it's a unique partnership with the department of public health in that we are operating a treatment program together with the department of public health staff being the agreement team, civil service
11:37 pm
staff, and cat, if i can use the acronym, is providing everything that has to do with operating the program essentially. they provide what we can refer to as hospitality services, janitorial, heating, they also are the leaseholder for the site and manage all the aspects of the facility. they supervise all the staff, invoice department of public health to be reimbursed, and so when we selected them, it was to a fiscal intermediary model. on a partnership with a lease by cats. sobering center and the medical respite are the only ones of their kind in san francisco and we recently completed an expansion of this program from 56 beds to 87 beds.
11:38 pm
the purpose of being here today is to extend our contract for three more years. it's currently a two-year contract, ending june 30, 2019. i have the director of nursing, alice mugabian is here if you have programmatic questions. >> thank you very much. could i get, hear from the b.l.a., please? >> we summarized the contract costs in table 2, page 28 of our report. this is actually approving a $14 million increase to contract that's currently at $9 million. so it increased it to $22 million for the remaining three years of the contract. the expenditures are approximately $4 million in the current year, going up to 4.1 million in 19-20. this amount includes cost of living adjustment that is subject to board of supervisors
11:39 pm
approval in the annual budget. we recommend approval. >> thank you very much. are there any members of the public that would like to comment on item number 12? seeing none, public comment is now closed. colleagues, any questions or comments? seeing none, i would like to move this to the board with a positive recommendation. take that without objection. thank you very much. madam clerk, thank you. please call items 13 and 14 together. >> yes, 13, resolution retroactively authorizing office of the district attorney to accept expend grant 800,000 from the california department of insurance for the worker's compensation fraud program, january -- july 1st through june 30, 2018. and 14, office of the district attorney to expend grant 298,000
11:40 pm
for the automobile insurance fraud program through june 30, 2018. >> thank you very much. sapria perry, managing attorney for the economic crimes unit. >> good morning supervisors. we are here to seek awe thorization to accept and expend funds which the office obtains through a program administered by the fraud assessment commission of the california department of insurance funds are used for the prosecution of workers insurance fraud as well as automobile insurance fraud. >> great. any comments or questions from my colleagues? there is no b.l.a. report on this. open this up for public comment. any members of the public like to speak on items 13 or 14? seeing none, public comment is
11:41 pm
now closed. supervisor stefani. >> can you just address the retro activity portion of it? because it will be asked at the board of supervisors meeting. >> yes. from our standpoint, funding is not actually retroactive, per se. it is put into our annual budget and per budget guidelines the funding that is put into the city budgeting process is based on the prior fiscal year. the processes occur parallel and therefore we didn't have a fully executed agreement with c.d.i., although we had authority to expend beginning at the start of the fiscal year. what happened particularly in terms of additional funding c.d.i. source for the funds distributed statewide are from assessments per regulations that
11:42 pm
are collected from employers, self-insured entities, as well as fines and fees collected as a result of successful prosecution of cases. therefore, there was additional funding available that was not part of the initial process that was then pro rated distributed among all the various county participants. as such, that -- that portion, approximately 21,000, was funded subsequent to the initial application process. as far as that piece of it as well, as we are at the, just at the end, or the beginning of the fourth quarter of this fiscal year, that portion has not, in fact, been expended. >> ok. that's great. thank you very much. >> um -- >> would you like to make a motion? >> yes, i would like to forward both items 13 and 14 to the full board with positive recommendation. >> thank you, without objection.
11:43 pm
and then item number 15, please. >> item 15, resolution retroactively authorizing the office of the district attorney, expend 1.5 million for the victim witness assistant program for the period of october 1, 2018, through september 30, 2019. >> and i believe we have jackie ortez. no, dr. gina rodriguez. victim services. chief of the victim services. 8,500 victims of crime. distribute california victims of crime this grant from the california office of emergency services. it provides support to the entire program. the program has 42 staff and
11:44 pm
works throughout the city at multiple locations to engage with victims of crime, whether the crime is reported or not. last year half our clients were charge cases and half the clients were uncharged cases so we are able to provide support and resources on the road to their recovery regardless of whether the crime is reported, investigated, or charged. >> thank you very much. there is no b.l.a. report on this. any comments or questions from my colleagues, seeing none. open this up for public comment. any persons like to comment on item number 15, seeing none, public comment is now closed. >> i would like to move item 15 forward to the full board with positive recommendations. >> thank you very much. take that without objection. >> madam clerk, any more business before us today? >> no further business. meeting is adjourned. thank you.
11:45 pm
>> good morning, everyone and thank you also much for being here today. three weeks ago, this city suffered a sudden loss of our public defender when jeff adachi passed away, and last week, we gathered here to celebrate in city hall. it was a moving experience and a great tribute to someone who inspired so many people, and someone who i was very fortunate to call a friend.
11:46 pm
at the end of my remarks, i said that while we mourn him that day , that tomorrow we have to get back to work doing what we would have -- what he would have wanted us to do, fighting for a more just and equitable san francisco. that is why we are here today. the san francisco public defender's office is an incredible office. its mission is to make every single person feel that they have a voice and that they are represented no matter who they are aware they come from. there mission is critical to our city and the public defender's office and it feels this mission with passion. and dedicated staff members who work every day for our city to make sure that those in need have the best representation possible. as someone who growing up here watched so many friends and family members rely on the public defender's office, i take the responsibility of filling
11:47 pm
this position not just professionally, but personally as well. because the lawyers heading to court today are working with people from communities that i grew up with. they were so many qualified candidates that were interested in leading this department. people who have done great work, people who have fought both as members of the public defender's office and outside of it to protect some of our most vulnerable communities. ultimately, my job is to make a choice, and today, i have chosen to appoint the person who i think will best carry the critical function of this office that is why i am proud to announce that i have chosen to appoint mano raju as the next
11:48 pm
public defender for the city and county of san francisco. [applause] they have the experience, the commitment and the just -- to fight for those who need a voice , both in the courtroom and in the community and let's start with his experience. eighteen years as a public defender including 11 at the san francisco public defender's office. he manages felony felony unit and he has basically defended countless individuals during trial. he has been an advocate not only in the courtroom, but also making policy changes, fighting for more african-american representation on juries, going to sacramento to push for policy changes to make our courtrooms more equitable. here in san francisco and throughout our country, we know it is more important, now more than ever, to push for criminal justice reform to make sure that
11:49 pm
we truly create a more equitable and just society, and i know that mano is committed to continuing to push and advocate for these policy changes. he has demonstrated a commitment to the community because we know that disrupting the cycle of imprisonment and poverty starts long before any crime is committed. i will look forward to partnering with mano on what i know are going to be some great policies that we are going to produce right here in san francisco and i know that we are never going to be able to replace jeff adachi, but we can build on his legacy, and i am confident that we have someone who is committed to doing just that. ladies and gentlemen, at this time, the next public defender of the city and county of san francisco, mano raju. [cheers and applause]
11:50 pm
>> thank you so much, mayor breed. jeff adachi was a leader, a trailblazer, and a friend to me and many others. our office is still in the process of deep morning, and matt gonzalez and other leaders in our office have really done a commendable job in facilitating as through this process. [applause] -- facilitating us through this process. [applause]. >> one day after his passing, about 12 topped out 14 hours later, over 100 staff gathered almost spontaneously in our main
11:51 pm
conference room in the public defender's office. we shared hugs, we shed tears, and we told stories. that was done for jeff and his legacy, it was also done for each other, for all of us in the office, and it was done for the work, because we knew beyond all else, jeff and the people in our office bring it with every fiver in our being for our clients, day in and day out. and to that day spoke volumes about the character of our staff , and why we do what we do day in and day out. four days later, a community vigil happened in san francisco, starting right outside of our offices. thousands of san franciscans
11:52 pm
gathered for that vigil, walked to city hall in a spontaneous showing of love and solidarity with what we do. that speaks volumes about the community connections that our office has forged with jeff's leadership. being a public defender is a calling for me, and it is a calling rooted in the spirit and resiliency of our clients and their families. it's also rooted in the staff of our office, it's also rooted in the larger communities in the city. so thank you, mayor. i'm honored to accept this appointment to carryforward the visionary advocacy of this office.
11:53 pm
when the mayor was speaking at jeff's service, she relayed a situation when she was younger when she saw jeff in the grand mall -- grand hall of an neighbor of hers who is being represented by our office. she talked about how jeff was in that grandmother's home, connecting with the family and deeply understanding that family and the relationships that they had. that encapsulates what we should be about. a deeper connection, a deeper understanding, a deeper connection to this community.
11:54 pm
if you haven't been in our shoes , if you haven't done an investigation in the wee hours of the morning to try and find a witness, or gone back to a house to knock on the door for the ninth time, if you haven't done the crucial paralegal, i.t., or clerical work at almost breakneck speed because that's what the attorney is requesting from you, if you haven't stood alone in front of a jury trying to address issues of implicit bias, or trying to explain why your client who suffers from complex trauma and perhaps mental illness did what he did, you haven't done that, then you can't have the deep understanding of what we do day in and day out, and that's why
11:55 pm
our office is so relieved that the mayor appointed someone in-house to understand our daily struggles, our daily trials, our daily efforts. i'm different than jeff, so there will be some changes and processes, changes in substance, and i will be reaching out to the rest of our wonderful staff for input, but the core of what we do in mission, that's not going anywhere. we are going to renew and recharge our commitment to excellence for our clients. we going to continue broader reform efforts, we are going to continue to protect the public against overreaching government abuses, we are going to to continue our struggle for racial justice in this city and statewide, and we are going to deepen our empowering engagement with the communities that we serve.
11:56 pm
those are the core values of the san francisco public defender's office. jeff embodied those values and his fight will continue to live through us. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. i want to take this opportunity to recognize two trailblazers who are with us today. our former public defender jeff brown is here. thank you so much for joining us [applause] >> as well as peter king. thank you so much for being here with us, commissioner king. thank you to all the members of the elected family who has joined us here today. we all know how difficult the past couple of weeks have been, not only for our city and the people who work with jeff over the years, but also especially for the people who worked directly with him at the public defender's office. matt gonzalez has let this
11:57 pm
office, has worked with each and every one of us in city hall during this very difficult transition. he's been a great leader, a great advocate for continuing the work of jeff's legacy, and i wanted to provide him with an opportunity to say a few words about mano at this time. [applause] >> i just want to say that i've never been concerned about this transition. of course, losing jeff was a big loss to our office, it is not one that will ever quite get over, but mayor breed has been a long time friend, not just of jeff adachi personally, but also of our office. she understands the work that we do, she cares about the work that we do, and so i've always been certain that this would be a good transition. mano is just a fantastic choice,
11:58 pm
and i could not be happier with this decision. he has a keen intellect, he is an exceptional trial lawyer, and i tell you -- i can tell you, i've seen a lot of trial lawyers he maybe the best i've seen, and i really mean that. he understands that the work of the public defender has to be rooted in the community. i've seen him prepare cases for trial and work in the community, and i know that he will do a terrific job carrying on jeff's legacy. mayor breed to, thank you very much and i mean that genuinely. thank you, congratulations. >> thank you. thank you everyone for being here. this concludes our press conference at this time, and we will take questions on the side. thank you.
11:59 pm
12:00 am
-- with liberty and justice for all. [gavel] commissioner, if i may call the role. >> a yes, please. >> commissioner hirsch. >> here. >> a commissioner taylor is excused. >> commissioner dejesus. >> here. >> a commissioner elias. >> a here. >> commissioner, you have a quorum. also present is chief william scott of the san francisco police department and director paul henderson from the department of police accountability. >> thank you. good evening, everyone. this is the april 10, 2019 meeting of the san francisco police commission. we have a moderate calendar tonight, so we'll allow three